


How to fail the Kobayashi-Maru-Test

by AngelaChristian



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 20:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17567243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelaChristian/pseuds/AngelaChristian
Summary: What happend aboard the Buran ?„Who did send you?”, Gabriel asked. “Did Section 31 make an illegal clone of me in order to replace me, because I declined their generous offer to join their little club?”He pulled the trigger, but only a metallic clicking sound was heard.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer : Star Trek : Discovery belongs to CBS, Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Pictures, I don't make money with this.

How to fail the Kobayashi-Maru-test

About seven month ago aboard the U.S.S. Buran :

“Red alert!“, ordered Captain Lorca „Shields to maximum.” A severe explosion shook the deck beneath his feet that almost threw him out of his chair.  
“Sir, we have been hit, shields are down to fifty percent. The Warpdrive has been damaged, only Impulsedrive available.”  
“Lock all Phasers on the attacking Klingonship, fire!”, he yelled into the noise of the wailing alert. Another hit made the ship shake. The flickering emergency lights shed a stroboscopic light on the scene  
“Shields down to thirty percent!”,sounded the desperate voice of the young, female lieutenant. “Numerous hull breaches on the decks twelve till fifteen, containment fields are holding.“  
“Transfer auxiliary energy to the shields! Evasivemaneuver Delta-Bravo-Epsilon! We can’t afford to take another hit.”  
“Aye, Sir.”  
The deck shook again, sparks set a damaged console on fire followed by a scream of pain and the thud of a body dropping onto the floor. Dense smoke darkened the bridge. The nauseous smell of burning flesh made Lorca retch.

“A firefighter team to the bridge!”, he yelled covering his mouth and nose with his hand. Cold showers running down his spine made him shiver despite the heat of the fire. This evoked an unwelcome feeling of Déja-vu. The situation was hopeless, he felt it. His heart was racing, he could hardly breathe which wasn’t only due to the thick smoke. His breast felt too tight, but the adrenalin in his veins kept him going.  
“All Phasers fire! Commander Dayton, aim at the Klingone ship, on my make, fire!”  
No response. “Commander Dayton, I gave you a direct order!!!” 

„Sir,…“ sounded the voice of the female Lieutenant through the noise „He can’t execute the order, he is…dead.”  
Lorca blinked his eyes. Right, by now there was nothing but burned organic matter left of his First Officer after the tactic console had exploded. His Second Officer ‘s body was buried under a crashed pillar that had crushed his skull, just a few meters away from his chair. The darkness made it easier for him to ignore the current disaster, because he didn’t have to look at it constantly. 

“Sir, what shall I do?” The young woman’s voice trembled. “The Klingon ship is returning and setting a course for our position!” Like putting emphasis to her words the image of the approaching ship grew on the screen.  
„Computer, activate autodestruct sequence.“ He rather went down in a blaze of glory taking the Klingons with him than surrender.  
“Warning, autodestruct sequence can only be activated by the First and Second officer and the captain of the ship.” 

“Computer, localize Commander Francis Dayton and Lieutenant Commander Albert Maxwell.” 

“Commander Francis Dayton and Lieutenant Commander Albert Maxwell are aboard the Buran. Life signs are negative.”

„Computer, register both officers as deceased and give clearance for autodestruct sequence to Captain Gabriel Lorca, identification Kappa-Omega-Epsilon-three hundred-sixty four.” He bent over this chair console that emitted a scanner beam in order to confirm his identity.

„Identity confirmed, Captain Gabriel Lorca, autodestruct sequence activated.” 

“Computer, code Beta-Alpha-Minus-Delta, sixty seconds count-down to destruction.” 

„Autodestruction activated, destruction in minus sixty seconds.“  
„Captain?“

Captain Lorca raised his head. 

The young woman had left her console and was standing in front of his chair. He looked her over. Lieutenant Michelle D’Angelo, the Buran was the first ship she served on after graduating from the academy. The blonde hair that had been fixed in her neck was falling in loose strands into her face and over her shoulders, make-up and grime mixed on her cheek. Her eyes glistened with tears.  
“So that’s it?”,she sobbed.

Consoling words had never been his strong suit. “Believe me, you don’t want to die from a klingon Batt’lette”, he stated in a matter of fact voice.

A tear ran down her cheek. “It has been an honor serving with you ”,she said with breaking voice.

Their gazes met. Lorca felt his throat getting tense. Looking at her made the following step even harder. He broke eye contact. “Computer, activate emergency transport to shuttle three, on my mark, now!” 

When his body was surrounded by the transporter beam he still could see the disbelieve on the young woman’s face change to unconcealed contempt, before the transporter dissolved his body. “You cowardly son of a bitch…“, echoed her last words in his mind when he materialized aboard the shuttle.

Lorca sat like paralyzed in his chair, starring at the Buran getting smaller and smaller with the growing distance. He had programmed a course into the autopilot that would take him out of the combat zone.  
The ship exploded in a glaring flash of light that hurt his sensitive eyes like a thousand needles pinched into his brain. Afterwards he was surrounded by nothing but eternal darkness. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed until a Starfleet rescue team found his shuttle and took him a board. The first thing he remembered was waking up - blind and disorientated - in sickbay.

He didn’t turn away or closed his eyes, he faced the facts. The pictures of the bright fireball that had been his ship still burned behind his closed eyelids although it was long gone.  
To him his lost crew had been nothing but another casualty of war. So much for survivors guilt. In his official report he blamed the Klingons for destroying the Buran and Starfleet didn’t question it. He claimed to had given the orders to abandon ship and rendezvous at secret coordinates, which in the end only his shuttle managed to reached. Starfleet assumed the events to be a tragedy but didn’t further investigate due to the ongoing war.  
That incident turned out to be a great opportunity to get rid of the Buran and be assigned to the much better Discovery. He would be court-martialed if Starfleet would find out the truth. Too bad he couldn’t keep himself from bragging with his deed in front of Mudd and Taylor. Not that anybody would believe the smuggler anyway.

Captain Lorca was laying in his bed, starring into the darkness. Cold sweat made him shiver, his chest moved visibly with every laboured breath while his heartbeat was racing and he had an odd metallic taste on his tongue. The phaser under his pillow could protect him from uninvited guests, but not from intrusive memories and nightmares. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see her, the Klingon woman.

So far, nobody had discovered his secret, although Admiral Cornwell was getting too close to him. He had no idea what had happened on that night they drank that bottle of alcohol, beside being really drunk, of course. She saw that brand on his back that the Klingon had given him using his heated badge as confirmation for her decision to label him unfit for duty. Therefore her disappearance was a welcomed event that bought him more time for his plan. Beside of that he couldn’t stand her too much anyway, if he was honest, his Chief of security was more his type, in every universe.


	2. How to get away with murder

He remembered the confusion after appearing aboard this strange Buran.

Lorca was looking around the corner of the corridor. A second ago, he had been aboard the Buran which was under heavy fire then he materialized in this quiet corridor that looked exactly like on his ship. No phaser fire was to hear, no red alert was wailing. At first he believed to be save aboard the sister ship that had come to rescue him, but then he heard a familiar voice over the intercom. 

“Commander Dayton, please report to the bridge.“ 

Lorca was puzzled. Either he had an unknown twin brother, who was in command of a similar built ship or he was no longer in his familiar universe, which seemed more likely. During his time aboard the Charon, he learned about an incident with a ship coming from another universe belonging to a Starfleet of a Federation of united planets. 

Footsteps approached his position. He opened the maintenance hatch in a hurry and crawled inside. It would be better to hide until he had a full picture of the situation. Through the grid he watched two officers walking by. Their plain blue uniform differed a lot from his black, rich with gold armor decorated one, even the badges had a different shape. He had to check his theory, immediately.

Luckily, this ship matched exactly the familiar blueprints of his Buran that way he could reach the Captain’s quarters through the maintenance tunnels without being seen. He waited until the coast was clear then left his hiding-place.  
„Computer, open the door, Captain Lorca 3-7-5-9-6.“ He hoped that nobody had changed the default entrance code. The door opened and allowed him to enter. He felt relieved.  
“Computer, lock the door and tell me Captain Lorca’s schedule for today.”  
“Today, Captain Lorca’s shift commences at eight-hundred hours and ends at sixteen-hundred hours, except non-scheduled events occur.”   
“Computer, what time is it?“   
“The exact time aboard is fifteen-hundred-fourteen hours.”   
Lorca nodded. He didn’t have more than forty-five-minutes left in order to prepare for his counterpart’s arrival. He looked around in his almost dark quarters. There was a small light gray couch and a matching armchair with a glass table in front of it. On the table stood a bowl with to Lorca unknown cookies. 

From the couch came a soft cooing sound emitted by something that he had mistaken for a small cushion at first sight. It turned out to be a Tribble. A pet? He grimaced with disgust. What kind of softball was that Captain? But in order to replace him in a credible way ,he had to take on his habits otherwise he would raise suspicion. 

Therefore he resisted the temptation to throw it overboard followed by the stupid cookies. 

Behind the desk, he noticed something that made his counterpart likeable again. There was a historical Colt together with a Winchester from the early nineteenth century on display in a showcase. This Lorca must be a soldier after all. A diabolic plan began to form in his head, but first he had to change his clothes, which betrayed his foreign origin despite the familiar face.

In the bedroom, he opened the built into the wall wardrobe and took out a fresh uniform. It fitted like a glove which meant that his counterpart was in perfect shape and would make a tough opponent. He disposed his own uniform over the waste- recycling-system to not give reasons for asking annoying questions. 

His eye caught the framed photograph of a woman on Lorca’s nightstand. Was the other Lorca married? Did he have children back home on earth? That would make things more complicated , because a family was harder to fool than a crew which didn’t know too much private details about their Captain’s life. A wife would ask questions about Honeymoon or the last birthday party of the son or daughter. After eliminating that Lorca, he would have to read his personal log and letters to his family.

“Computer, unlock the door.“ His counterpart should be arriving every second. He couldn’t take the weapon, because its missing would have revealed his presence, therefore he had to find another way to overpower the Captain. Lorca went to the bathroom and hid behind the frozen glass of the shower booth. Of course it would have been quicker and easier to shot him right after entering the quarters, but he had to make sure that he was on his own, because he didn’t need witnesses or additional opponents.

The sink with a mirror fixed above was parallel to the shower and in front of the toilet. A short time later, the bathroom light was switched on, footsteps approached then the bathroom door was opened. Gabriel entered and was about to use the toilet, but froze in his movement. 

“Whoever you are, stop hiding from me in the shower!”, he said strictly. “I’ve noticed your intrusion quite a while ago, so come out and show yourself.”  
So much for the moment of surprise. Lorca thought that his hiding-place was save, but anyway, he opened the door. Their gazes met. It felt like looking into a mirror. His counterpart was stunned and studied him.

„Who did send you?”,Gabriel asked. “Did Section 31 make an illegal clone of me in order to replace me, because I declined their generous offer to join their little club?”

„Who said that I’m a clone at all?“

“What do you want from me? Let’s negotiate. I’m sure I’ll make you a better offer than my opponents.”

“I’m not here to negotiate. I’ll take over your ship, whether you like that or not. But first I’ll have a little bit of fun with you.” 

“You might look exactly like me, but sooner or later my crew will recognize the difference between you and me. It’s just a matter of time. Who is your client? Who wants to abduct and depose me?“

„It seems you don’t understand, nobody conspired against you, why should anybody do that? You’re a completely unimportant Captain in command of an even more unimportant ship, conspiring against you would be a waste of time.” 

“Your actions don’t make sense to me, or did you just come here to insult me? And if you care, your cheap cologne revealed your presence, I scented it while entering my quarters.

Without further warning Lorca attack his opponent. Gabriel skillfully evaded his punches and punched him into his stomach which made him double up. The next punch hit his neck, but Lorca kicked against his knee which made him lose balance and stumble backwards against the wall. At once he pushed himself forward, grabbed Lorca and pulled him down onto the floor. Both were rolling panting on the floor. Lorca punched him hard into the face, which made his head hit the floor. Gabriel passed out.

Slowly, Gabriel opened his eyes. He was gagged, laying on the bed with his hands tied up on his back. Lorca was sitting on his legs, pushing him into the mattress and pressing Gabriel’s revolver on his neck.   
“Nice to have you back with me. I feared my punch had already sent you to the beyond and took the opportunity of getting to know you better.”  
Gabriel tried to turn around, but Lorca held him in position.

“You asked me what I wanted from you and the answer is simple; I want your life. Yes, exactly, after killing you, I’ll take your place. In this universe is only space for one Gabriel Lorca and that’s me.”

Gabriel chewed on his gag and uttered sounds of protest.

“I would really like to hear your begging for mercy, but I can’t take the risk of you calling the security. I’m so sorry,” his voice was full of irony. “I’ll pull the trigger, now. Any last wishes?”

Lorca followed his gaze. The whole time he had been looking at the photograph on his nightstand. 

“Are you serious? She’s nothing special. I would have picked a younger more beautiful one.” 

His eyes were glistening with tears, while still looking at the picture. 

He pulled the trigger, but only a metallic clicking sound was heard. Gabriel winched, followed by a soft whimper.

“Do you know what I like about the old weapons?... They are always good for a surprise. You can’t play Russian Roulette with a phaser. I don’t know when the bullet will hit you, either. Makes it more exciting for both of us.“  
He felt Gabriel’s body tremble, when he started to sob.

“Stop crying, you’re a soldier after all”, he said condescendingly.”Show a bit more composure for a Captain and die like a man. I almost have to be embarrassed for you.”

Lorca saw the flaming rage in his wet eyes. The fire was still burning .In a desperate move, Gabriel tried to turn around and throw him of his body. He jerked upwards which made Lorca struggle for balance and grab the gun hard. The shot directly hit his head.   
Lorca was showered in a splash of blood that hit his face and ruined his uniform. The body underneath him went limp. “Just great…”, he cursed when looking at the mess he caused.  
Now, he had to hurry, somebody must have heard the shot and alarmed the security. Quickly, he removed the badge of the Captain’s chest and put it on the nightstand. He would need it later. Then he pulled the body on the floor and pilled the bloodstained bedclothes over him. At last, he took off his uniform jacket and used it to wipe the blood of his face. Afterwards, he tossed it on the pile. 

Seconds later, the doorbell chimed. Lorca left the bedroom and answered the door. He faced a male and a female security officer with drawn phasers.

“Sir, is everything all right in your quarters? We were called because of a loud noise that sounded like a shot.” The dark haired woman asked and looked curiously into the dark room behind him.  
“Everything is all right, I just have cleaned my gun and forgotten to check the chamber, nothing happened, no hull breach, just my desk got a little scratch. I must have been distracted.” He shrugged. Inwardly, he triumphed. They really thought that he was their Captain, although they’ve never met before.  
She gave him a short, skeptical look. “Aye, Sir, if you say so and you’re not in danger, we’ll withdraw.” She nodded at her college, who then lowered the phaser. “Have a pleasant evening, Sir.” He smiled. „Thanks, have a pleasant evening as well, dismissed.“

Then he quickly returned into his quarters. He didn’t have the slightest idea who those security people were, they didn’t exist on his Buran and he should know his crew by name and face. That meant that he would have to spend the rest of the night reading the crew manifest of the ship in order to be able to know at least his closest officers by name. Obviously, those universes differed more than he expected. Unfortunately the crew manifest didn’t tell anything about his personal relationships to his officers and crew members, therefore he would have to check the Captain’s personal log as well.  
But first, he had to get himself a phaser and get rid of the mess in his bedroom.   
***  
Now, aboard the Discovery, he didn’t have to pretend anymore and could be himself in front of his new crew. When meeting old acquaintance of dead Gabriel, he could blame his changed behavior on the recently suffered trauma.   
The spore-drive was his last chance to get back into his familiar universe and finish his plot. He would bring down the empire and make himself the new leader. At least that was his plan.   
And he missed the taste of real Kelpian, the replicators of the Discovery did a bad job on this.  
The end


End file.
